Brexcellence

The cover of this year’s Wimbledon preview issue of TENNIS Magazine read as follows:

The crux of Steve Tignor’s brilliant piece on the British No. 1 was that Murray’s opinions and actions regarding women’s rights, among other hot-button issues in sport, may be what we remember about him most. This, despite Murray having previously broken a 77-year drought for a British men’s champion at Wimbledon in 2013, one year after winning his first Grand Slam singles title at the U.S. Open. Scads of impressive match wins and other significant titles lined his resume, but he would forever live in the all-consuming shadows of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Today, Murray won his third major championship, and second at Wimbledon, with a 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) victory over Milos Raonic. Murray was masterful all day, applying constant pressure to Raonic’s superb serve—the Canadian won just 67 percent of his first-serve points—passing his opponent at will from the baseline and playing his best at the most critical moments. You would expect Raonic to have a decided edge in tiebreakers, given his serve, but Murray ran away with them both.

And today, this prejudice against Murray being one of men’s tennis’ Big Four has to stop. He remains far away from Federer, Nadal or Djokovic in major titles, and it would be an abject shock if he finished his career close to any of them. He still carries eight losses in major finals to his name—all to Djokovic or Federer. But Murray has steadfastly continued to put himself in position to win the sport’s biggest tournaments, on all surfaces, for the better part of a decade. No other player—not Stan Wawrinka, Juan Martin del Potro, etc.—can say they’ve challenged the tour’s top tier like Murray has. The man has proven himself time and again; he’s beaten Federer, Nadal and Djokovic plenty of times. Murray is part of the ATP’s finest string quartet. He deserves his due, and today’s win was long overdue.

I would even go so far as to say that the Big Four “era” can be broken down into two parts: Federer & Nadal, 2004-10; Djokovic & Murray, 2011-current. It’s not an exact comparison—Nadal has won more majors than Murray since 2011, and 2004-10 was dominated to a greater degree by Roger and Rafa. But I stand by it, in part because of the ages of the four leading men, but more because of Murray’s first-rate play.

Murray has been, and probably will continue to be, the most overlooked man in tennis. He is the GOAT of unsung heroes. And today, he is champion of tennis’ biggest tournament.